Alexander Gardner (1) (1821–1882)

When the Civil Wa broke out in April, 1861, photography was still new. Daguerreotypes had been around for only about 25 years, and photographers still had to carry their dark g to make a negative image appear on a piece of glass. But these photos would change the way people thought and felt about war in a way that would not happen again for almost 100 years. That photographers such as Gardner and his slightly more famous colleague, Matthew Brady, managed to capture even a single image of the terror of that War still amazes me.

This collection of 100 of Gardner's best photos still produces feelings of terror, sadness, and horror in me that surpass what I feel when I look at photos from any other conflict except, perhaps, those taken in at the German Word War II extermination camps and the aftermath of the Wounded Knee massacre. I need to take them in very small doses.

By like those others, I think it's important to look at these pictures carefully. We must remember that, in the end, this war was fought to end slavery in the United States..

However, even though physical slavery here is no longer possible, we still face race prejudice here, and the enslavement and torture of innocents still exists throughout the world. Until everyone is free, we must all keep reminding ourselves of the sacrifice ending these things has and may still require from many of us.… (mais)